Arthritis is an inflammatory disease of arthroses. Main examples of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis and its analogous diseases wherein inflammation is observed in arthroses.
In particular, rheumatoid arthritis, also referred to as chronic rheumatism, is polyarthritis chronica whose main lesion is inflammatory changes in synovial membranes of internal layers of articular capsules. Arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis is progressive and causes articular disorders such as articular deformation, tetany, etc. When an effective treatment is not carried out and the disease worsens, serious physical disorders are often caused.
Hitherto, in treatment of such arthritis, chemotherapy has been carried out using steroids such as adrenal cortical hormones (e.g., cortisone, etc.), etc.; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents such as aspirin, piroxicam, indomethacin, etc.; gold preparations such as gold thiomalate, etc.; antirheumatic agents such as chloroquine preparations, D-penicillamine, etc.; antipodagrics such as colchicine, etc.; immunosuppressive agents such as cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, methotrexate, levamisole, etc.
However, drugs using the chemotherapy have problems such as serious side effects, side effects making their long-term use difficult, insufficient efficacy, inefficacy against arthritis which has already produced the symptoms.
Therefore, in clinical treatment of arthritis, drugs having low toxicity and excellent effects in the prophylaxis and treatment of arthritis have been required.
Various quinoline or quinazoline derivatives have been synthesized. Known compounds having an aminomethyl group at the 2 position of the 4-phenylquinoline or 4-phenylquinazoline skeleton are 2-dimethylaminomethyl compounds, 2-morpholinomethyl compounds, etc., described in Synthesis, Vol. 9, p. 718 (1979), and 2-alkylaminomethyl quinoline derivatives, etc., described in Farmaco, Vol. 44, p. 555 (1989). However, none of these literature discloses anti-inflammatory activity of 4-phenylquinoline or 4-phenylquinazoline derivatives.
The main object of the present invention is to provide an anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical composition.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel quinoline or quinazoline derivative having anti-inflammatory activity.
These objects as well as other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.